Finding Time For It All – Summer Edition

Summer is here, and with it comes unique challenges of trying to fit all of your responsibilities into the available hours in the day.

Balancing everything in during the other seasons is hard enough, with work, freelancing, and family commitments, but in the summer time, everything just seems to ramp up in a whole new way.

Weddings, family reunions, vacations, camping trips and yard work all compete for our time and sometimes leaves me feeling like I need a vacation from my vacation!

It's not always easy keeping up with everything, especially if you're a side hustler like Michelle and I. That said, there are a few ways we can make sure that everything essential gets accomplished, while still fitting in the important things, like family.

Use the Daylight

In my neck of the woods (Eastern Canada), it gets dark at around 5:30pm in the winter time and stays that way until about 8am. This can make getting anything done outside of work hours less than appealing. Fortunately we have the complete opposite situation in the summer time, where it doesn't get dark until 9:30pm, and even then it only lasts until around 5am.

Due to this, I love using the extra summer day light to my advantage in the summer. It's so much easier to get up in the morning when it's already light out, so I try make sure to get up extra early and accomplish a few tasks (some days I try and fail).

In the same vein, being able to stay outside to accomplish things like yard work and visiting family late into the evening allows me to just plain old get a lot more done than I would want to in the dead of winter when the thought of venturing off my warm couch and into the cold just makes me want to hunker down underneath the blankets.

Multitask

Combining tasks is a great way to free up spare time. For example, I love reading, but I have a terrible time carving out an hour of my day in order to turn some pages. So, I listen to audio books while running, walking the dog, and doing yard work. I actually get more books read this way then I do by reading them on my eReader all winter.

The same goes for family gatherings. Want to go camping but also need to organize that family reunion Why not have the reunion at a camp ground? This is a great way to visit with family and it also spares family members the headache of having to host.

Just Say No

To me, summer is about recharging from the frozen darkness of winter and soaking up the beautiful scenery.

It's about taking the time to feel recharged and catch up on life.

If I said yes to every side hustle opportunity, volunteered for every project at work, and accepted every social invitation, I'd be run off my feet in under a month. So, I've had to learn to say no. Sometimes it feels pretty bad, sometimes my ridiculously over-inflated sense of guilt makes me feel like I'm letting people down, but I've learned that in order to do my at my best, I have to do less.

Summer is awesome, it's my second favourite season (Fall wins that one) and I love taking the time to get out in nature and enjoy the beauty that this season has to offer. In order to do that, I have to be super efficient with my other life commitments, and using these tips, it's been smooth sailing so far.

What plans do you have for the summer? How do you find time for it all?

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Comments

I love your idea of "just say no." Sometimes we take on WAY too much, including work, volunteering, social outings, etc. It can really start draining us. I love taking advantage of daylight in the Summer, especially since in the winter I usually leave for work before the sun is up and come home when the sun is going down. Great post, Jordann! My recent post Does Deer Hunting Save Money?

The extra daylight makes it harder for me to shut down and decompress at the end of the day, so I find myself a little bit more perpetually short of sleep in the summertime. I need to set some sort of alarm that makes me stop working at 8pm or so to get to bed and get to sleep at a decent hour! My recent post PoP Balance Sheet – May 2013

A lot of rain right now so hopefully that stops soon. Got a lot of plans to work on the yard and get it the way we want it for the new home. Plus the kids have a lot of activities going on as well. We want to go on a family trip this summer but have to see how that goes. Really a great time to enjoy the beach and grill. My recent post Personal Finances for Everyone – Even YOU!

Saying no is so tough. When I was a dancer I had to learn to say no to the offer of publicity. Promoters would compensate me by setting up a station of passing out flyers. I finally learned that I needed to be paid every single time unless the project furthered my career. Why? Because someone was getting paid for my hard work. My recent post What Budget Spreadsheets Can Do For You

Jordann, you're right on track here, and I love the part about "saying no". We are saying "no" to overtime for Rick, even though we could really use the money to pay things off. He'll be working 1 or 2 weekends a month instead of all 4. It was a difficult decision in a way, but life is more important than money! My recent post How to Save Money on Groceries

There are so many quality activities that a person can involve themselves in that sometimes we get overloaded. I have learned it's OK to say "No" even to things that I might enjoy. I know there are people who don't understand why I am not involved with some activities but for me it's all about prioritizing what is most important and focusing on those things first. This summer that means taking care of the kids as they are home from school and enjoying several fun vacations with the family. Oh…and working on my blog:) My recent post Geocaching: Our New, Cheap Kid Activity

I love summer, but there are SO many things going on. Bachelorette parties, bridal showers, baby showers, birthdays, trips, and so on. I am jam packed all summer! My recent post Finding Time For It All – Summer Edition

I'm more partial to winter (probably because I love to sleep and snowboard!) but I often feel much more busy in the summer! I love the idea of multitasking. Typically I have trouble multitasking and need to focus on one thing at a time in order to accomplish anything, but taking a different approach to multitasking (like in your family reunion example) could help streamline everything! I've also found that making a priority list is helpful. Sometimes a task is a higher priority, but I find something else more interesting. Keeping a priority list helps keep me on track for my day. My recent post Taking Inventory of What We Have

I think saying no is one key ingredient for me. Luckily I'm quite the homebody so I don't need a lot of social plans to make me happy. One thing I love about summer is more time to play beach volleyball on the weekends because of the light! My recent post 4 Frugal Father’s Day Gifts to Last a Lifetime

Minnesota is similar to where you live during the summers and winters as far as daylight goes, so I totally agree with you about making the most of the daylight. I love spending time outside in the summer, so that's what I'll be doing whenever I can. My wife and I will probably head to the cabin quite a few weekends during the summer and enjoy time with family. My recent post Photo Thursday: A Day at the Races

I definitely agree – having it be light out until 9 helps in being more productive. I plan on going for walks after dinner since it's still nice and light out. Fall is also my favorite season! I don't have too many plans for summer yet except for a baby shower in August. I am hoping to just get settled into my new apartment and establish a routine. My recent post The Cost of a Random Raccoon Attack

I always try to multitask to get more things done. But I agree that sometimes you need to say "no" I have a side hustle that is seasonal and it takes up June and some of July…it's nice to make some extra cash but you have to balance it with relaxation and enjoying the summer. My recent post Stay at Home Jobs

I usually have a case of the guilts when I say no, but I've come to realize that saying yes all the time does me nor my wallet any good. I've also noticed that the more infrequently I hang with others, the more quality conversations I seem to have versus mundane ones when I see them often. Besides, with all the social media around, it's hard for people to not be connected in some way or another! My recent post Why I began running

We're trying to get EVERYTHING done in the yard by July 3rd so we can relax and ENJOY the rest of the summer. I've also told my wife we need to block out 4 weekends where we don't have ANY plans and can just relax and enjoy the summertime. My recent post Another Free Flight and Hotel on Credit Card Points

Fall is my favorite too! I love the extra sunlight of summer though. It's so nice to drive back from work when it's still light out. Saying no is a really great tip too. Saying no to others means you have more time to say yes to yourself. My recent post My Personal Investment Plan

I´m from the North of Norway, where we have the midnight sun, which is just the best thing ever! I visit our vacation home every summer, and I love going for walks during "night" just to enjoy the silence and the beautiful midnight sun shining on my face at 2.am! 😀 My recent post A Delicious Greek-Inspired Dessert; Yoghurt with Walnuts and Honey

Saying no is the most difficult thing but it doesn't only apply to refusing jobs every now and again. I find it very difficult to concentrate some times and am sometimes interrupted by family requirements. This can be very disturbing – the worst part is that I naturally want to help anyway! My recent post Keep yourself and your finances healthy

I love love love the extra daylight! It starts getting daylight here at about 4:45 (full sunrise isn't until after 5:30) and that makes it so much easier to crawl out of bed at 5:45. On the rare occasion that I wake up on the weekends before the kids, I love to make coffee, sit on the front porch, and read a book. Aaahhhhhhh!

Our kids do not have any activities during the summer. All sports and Girl Scouts are over in June and that gives them the opportunity to recharge as well. Plus it helps my gas tank 🙂

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Hello and welcome!My name is Michelle and I'm the author/owner of Making Sense of Cents. Learning how to save money and make more money changed my life. It allowed me to pay off $40,000 in student loans, start my own business, and I now travel full-time.